Biggest New Movies of May 2019: John Wick, Detective Pikachu & More

Oh may oh my, it’s the fifth month of the year. The one redeeming thing May has going for it is the May day holiday we all get on the 1st of the month. Oh, and the movies coming our way of course. There is quite the variety this month, with a little bit of teen romance, a large dose of action and comedy, as well as a whole new world of live-action movies being churned out by Disney.

1. The Sun Is Also A Star | 17th May 2019

It is a story as old as time: girl meets boy, they fall in love over the course of a day, experiencing the magic of love against the backdrop of New York city. However, things are never just that easy, are they?

Protagonist Natasha is Jamaica-born and has to deal with her family’s possible deportation. With a deportation in the wings and her stay in the US possibly coming to an end, it does seem that a relationship with new guy Daniel just isn’t in the cards. Should Natasha allow fate to take her where it wants to, or seize the chance of pursuing something special with Daniel? You will have to watch to find out.

2. Pokémon Detective Pikachu | 10 May 2019

I can only imagine the board meeting when this movie was pitched. They all sat down and thought to themselves, let’s take two really popular things and bring them together. So on one hand you have Pokémon, on the other you have Deadpool but in the form of Pikachu. That’s basically what this movie is: Ryan Reynolds with his quips and dry humour, and a whole lot of Pokémon thrown in for good measure.

Based on the trailer, the movie looks kind of dumb, but for some reason I feel it’s going to be a Jumanji: Into the Jungle type of movie, where you might go in thinking it’s not going to be good, and then it ends up surprising you.

3. Aladdin | 24th May 2019

Disney is going big on the live action movies this year, with Aladdin this month and The Lion King later on (I have no idea why Disney is calling it live-action when it is clearly animated).

I like that there is more representation for people of colour on the big screen, though I am still on the fence on Will Smith being blue (literally). From the trailer, the actors actually look the part of Aladdin and Jasmine – let’s just hope they can act.

4. The Hustle | 10th May 2019

Gender swapped films have become a particular trend of late, where predominantly male storylines get taken up by a mostly female cast. We saw this with Ocean’s 8 last year, and Ghostbusters the year before that. The Hustle is an adaptation of Dirty, Rotten Scoundrels, with Rebel Wilson and Anne Hathaway at the helm as scam artists.

An interesting tidbit involving the movie is Rebel Wilson’s sharing on The Graham Norton show, where she spoke about getting the R rating of the show overturned for a more favourable PG rating. As it turns out, Ms Wilson is not just a stellar comedic actress, she also has a law degree under her belt, which equipped her with the tools to successfully get the film its deserved PG rating.

5. John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum | 17th May 2019

While everyone has been salivating for the arrival of Avengers: Endgame, this is the movie I have been most looking forward to. Keanu Reeves fits the role like a glove, and I am eager to seep myself in the mind-numbing violence that awaits, as well as hoping that this last movie in the franchise ups its game to such an extent that it blows its predecessors out of the water.

I never thought a flimsy narrative and an abundance of splattered brains would make for such a compelling series of films. However, what the film lacks in substance, it more than makes up for through the cinematography and action sequences.

Natasha is an English Literature teacher. She believes that stories are the essence of being human, and loves sharing this world with her students. One day, she hopes to break into the literary world with an offering of her own, but for now, she finds enjoyment in writing plays for her students as well as penning content for Moviebabble. You can follow her @litmysoul on Instagram, if you want.